Some Jaguar and Land Rover SUVs can suddenly lose engine power and shut off their headlights while driving, and the company just recalled 23,677 of them to fix it.
Quick Take
- Jaguar Land Rover recalled 23,677 U.S. vehicles on September 17 over a faulty part called a DC-DC converter.
- The part can fail from electrical overload or a software glitch, cutting drive power and exterior lights.
- The recall covers many 2019-2024 Range Rover, Discovery, Defender, Jaguar E-Pace, and F-Pace models.
- Dealers will install a free software fix that adds a warning and a safer “limp-home” mode if the converter fails.
What The Federal Recall Notice Actually Says
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall filing lays out a clear problem. A DC-DC converter inside these vehicles can malfunction because of an electrical overload.
A separate software error can also make the converter stop working entirely. Either path leads to the same outcome: the vehicle can lose drive power and its exterior lights while moving.
Losing power and lights at the same time is a serious driving hazard, especially at night or in traffic. Federal recall summaries state plainly that the defect can cause “complete loss of drive power and exterior lighting.”
Jaguar Land Rover is not treating this as a brand-new problem it just discovered. Coverage of the filing describes the company as expanding an already existing recall to sweep in thousands more vehicles.
That detail matters. It shows the automaker was already tracking this converter issue before adding this latest batch of SUVs to the list.
Which Vehicles Are Affected And What Owners Should Expect
The recall touches a wide range of popular models. Affected vehicles include the Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, standard Range Rover, Discovery Sport, Defender, Range Rover Velar, Discovery, Jaguar E-Pace, and Jaguar F-Pace, spanning model years from 2019 through 2024.
That breadth means this is not a niche problem tied to one small production run. It cuts across nearly the entire modern SUV lineup for both brands. The fix itself is straightforward and free. Dealers will update the vehicle’s software at no cost to the owner.
The updated software adds a warning system so drivers get alerted if the converter starts to fail, along with a limp-home function meant to keep the vehicle controllable long enough to pull over safely, rather than cutting power without notice.
This is not Jaguar Land Rover’s first brush with this exact component this year. The company already recalled more than 170,000 U.S. vehicles earlier in 2026 for a related DC-DC converter and mild-hybrid power loss issue, a recall that started after the automaker initially decided in September 2024 the problem did not pose a real safety risk, before reversing course by April 2026.
That earlier timeline is worth noting because it shows how a component flagged once can keep resurfacing in expanded form as engineers gather more field data.
Why Regulators Act Even Without A Documented Crash
Federal safety law does not require proof that someone already crashed before a recall gets ordered. Regulators can act on credible risk and engineering evidence that a failure could create an unreasonable danger, which explains why recalls like this one often arrive before any widely reported incident.
A car that can silently go dark and coast to a stop in live traffic checks that box on its own, regardless of whether a specific wreck triggered the paperwork.
Jaguar Land Rover expanded an existing recall to include an additional 23,677 vehicles over an electronic system error that may lead to the loss of drive power and exterior lighting, according to federal regulators. https://t.co/j7LxxQMn33
— FOX 13 Seattle (@fox13seattle) September 23, 2026
For owners, the practical advice is simple. Anyone driving an affected Land Rover or Jaguar SUV should watch for a dealer notification and get the software update scheduled as soon as it becomes available.
A free fix that closes off a known power-loss risk is not something to put off, especially when the defect can affect both propulsion and visibility at the same moment on the road.
Sources:
foxbusiness.com, fox5ny.com, ground.news, sacbee.com, reuters.com, bursadabugun.com
